Driving Safety Research Institute

Our Mission

We aim to make roads safer by researching the connection between humans and vehicles. We are home to the National Advanced Driving Simulator, and we now have a new name for our broader institute: the Driving Safety Research Institute.

About Us

Participate

Participate in one of our studies, or join our registry to get notified about new studies.

Rose Schmitt and John Gaspar in NADS-1 control room

Our Research

We partner with researchers around the world to study the connection between humans and vehicles.

The 24-foot NADS-1 simulator is on a six-legged base that rotates up to 330° and moves across the 64-foot square bay floor to simulate driving motions such as accelerating, lane changing, and skidding. There are 23 brakes on the large crossbeam that spans the room, while 42 hydrostatic bearings ride on a thin film of oil across smooth metal belts.

Our Tech

Simulators and Vehicles miniSim

News

gray and blue screen with white text "surviving bad"

Cannabis Impaired Driving

Thursday, June 16, 2022

The Partnership for a Healthy Iowa

Cannabis Impaired Driving. Timothy Brown, Ph.D. Dr. Tim Brown, the Director of Drugged Driving Research at the University of Iowa's National Advanced Driving Simulator joins us to talk about Cannabis and Drugged Driving, and the results are scary.

The Science of Distracted Driving

Thursday, June 16, 2022

The Partnership for a Healthy Iowa

The Science of Distracted Driving with Dr. Daniel McGehee – National Advanced Driving Simulator. Professor Daniel McGehee from the National Advanced Driving Simulator at the University of Iowa joins us to talk about the science of distracted driving, multi-tasking, and safety.

Can CBD Impact Your Driving Ability? What We Know

Thursday, June 2, 2022

Healthline.com

Millions of Americans regularly use CBD but little is known about the impacts of CBD on driving ability. This Healthline article, with comments from Tim Brown, director of drugged driving research at the National Advanced Driving Simulator, gives insight into driving ability and CBD use.

Blue screen with text " You are still the most important part of driving"

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) vs. Automation

Thursday, May 19, 2022

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are becoming more common in everyday vehicles. Watch our quick video to learn about the differences between ADAS and automation and your responsibilities as a driver.

Congrats to McGehee on his tenure

Monday, May 9, 2022

Congratulations to NADS Director Daniel McGehee, PhD, as he has recently been promoted and tenured as part of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Alumni Spotlight: Shan Bao, PhD

Thursday, April 28, 2022

Alumni spotlight of Shan Bao, a former Ph.D. student at the University of Iowa who researched automotive human factors

Webinar recording: Cannabis and Driving Safety - What's new and what's next?

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Watch a panel discussion of recent research findings on cannabis and driving, including what research is needed to better understand how cannabis impacts driving performance and safety, as well how improved technology might be able to detect impaired driving.

ADS for Rural America webinar 1 recording: Focus on Safety

Sunday, April 3, 2022

ADS for Rural America project website

Watch a recording of our first webinar about our ADS for Rural America project, "Focus on Safety," held on Thursday, April 21.

Drug use in crashes higher during COVID-19 pandemic

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things, including the prevalence of drugged driving. The University of Iowa was selected as one of the collection sites to examine the prevalence of drugged driving among seriously and fatally injured road users